Remove Sharpie Permanent Marker From Stone

By

twombly

My 5 yr old son did this with a black sharpie on 3 types of stone at his grand parent's house (YIKES!): grey polished slate, varnished marble bowl, white granite with no finish. It came off of the slate the easiest and the varnished granite using 409, dish soap, and one of those "Magic Sponges". The white marble was porous and soaked in the sharpie dye/ink.

We thought something acid would help. I also tried a paste of Ajax cleanser with no luck. A long soak in an acidic solvent should do it (100% Ethanol at pH 3-5). My son added "eyes" to this white marble female figurine. If soaking the head causes a stain, we'll soak the whole thing. If this works, we'll post it.

As for his grandmother's grudge, nothing will remove that stain.

Good luck.

I have red Sharpie permanent marker on my River Rock Stone Fireplace. My son wrote on one of the stones and no matter what I have used it will not come off. I even tried bleach.